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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24977512">Efeu</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layah/pseuds/Layah'>Layah</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Eyvi (OC), Friendship, Gen, Hedera (OC), Hobgoblin - Freeform, Humor, I don't know what to tag tbh, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), Translation, living with a demon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:21:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24977512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layah/pseuds/Layah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a loud blow and the rather large picture on which a brightly lit New York could be seen landed on the floor.<br/>"Seriously ... again ...?" she now growled, pulled back the blanket, stood up and hung the picture back on the wall.<br/>Eyvi hadn't slept through a single night in several years.<br/>The reason for this was a pretty cheeky Hobgoblin who had nestled in her apartment and who had become a full-time job for Eyvi since she could see demons thanks to her mashou. There was no need to worry as such, if it weren't for her best friend who tried inciting her to study exorcism with him at all costs ...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys, </p><p>since I started to translate some of my stories lately, and I really enjoy doing so, I decided to also upload my by far longest fic here. I started writing it around 2014 (so there might be some information that is not up to date with the manga anymore) and it finally is coming to an end. (So there will probably not be a long time in between the uploads, there are only 2 chapters from 45 missing atm)</p><p>What else to mention... no pairings. Read if you wanna smile over the friendship between human and Hobgoblin, some random conversations and actions. There are plenty of them.</p><p>Oh and as always: sorry for any mistakes I may have made while translating.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The wind whistled around the corners of the small town's houses. It was the middle of the night, exactly the period in which even the street lights were switched off to save energy. As a result, it was pitch dark, as all the residents were already lying in their beds, rolling around, snoring, snuggling up to their partners, or telling confusing things in their sleep.<br/>
Due to the small storm that had already started in the early evening, care was taken to close all windows and doors thoroughly so that no gust of wind could devastate the carefully and lovingly furnished apartments.<br/>
However, like almost every night, one apartment was not spared. Presumably the owner could have barricaded the windows and doors with solid wooden planks and it would have had the same effect.<br/>
As the wind chime next to her bed, the only one of the five others in her bedroom, began to move, producing a soft but sudden melody, she woke up. She had a good night's sleep when it came to loud noises or the happenings outside her four walls; for example thunder and storm; however, she was immediately startled as soon as something happened in her bedroom, whether it was only soft steps or a barely audible jingling of the wind chime.<br/>
She sleepily rubbed her eyes, turned on the light of her bedside lamp, and looked up at the ceiling. Then she realized that the shell wind chime was moving, which she brought back from her vacation in Croatia about four years ago, and sighed heavily.<br/>
By now, this spectacle, which outsiders might even have described as supernatural, was the most normal thing to her; maybe even a little annoying.<br/>
Just as she wanted to switch off the light again and curl up in her blanket, there was a loud blow and the rather large picture on which a brightly lit New York could be seen landed on the floor.<br/>
"Seriously ... again ...?" she now growled, pulled back the blanket, stood up and hung the picture back on the wall.<br/>
"May I be allowed to sleep through just one night? ..." Since she was already awake anyway, she continued to grumble and pay a nightly visit to her toilet. And since she was afraid the fridge would feel cheated otherwise, she took out the half-empty pack of milk and sat back on the bed with it.<br/>
When nothing more unusual happened, she finally turned and fell asleep again without another word. However, the peace did not last long. Another thump announced that something in the living room must have gone down.<br/>
"Man! I understand that you need your attention, but can't you just wait until tomorrow morning !? It's not like I don't have time all day long while waiting to hear from my applications, which I almost send out five months ago! Believe me, you're not the only one here who is bored from time to time!" That was true. When you finished school and waited every day to hear from the companies you applied for an apprenticeship, the time passed surprisingly slowly. During her curse, she had run into the living room and was now glacing at the framed newspaper clipping that was lying on the floor. Now, she really was annoyed. It was an advertisement in which her friends had congratulated her on her 18th birthday not long ago.<br/>
"Hey you know how important this thing is to me! Why are you keep throwing it down all the time? Are you that jealous of my friends? Don't worry, I won't forget you, especially since you keep reminding me of your existence every night..."<br/>
She sighed again and rubbed her forehead. Then she picked up the picture frame and put it back in its original place.<br/>
She started another attempt to sleep. Fortunately, she didn't get interrupted that night again.</p><p>The next day she was woken by her ringing cell phone. She stared at the display with her eyes half open.<br/>
'Mino's calling'<br/>
She opened her almost medieval cell phone and just brought in: "Hellouuu? ..."<br/>
<em>"Gosh, you sound terrible. What were you doing last night? Were you out storm surfing or something like that?" </em>she heard her best friend's voice on the other side of the line.<br/>
"Moah Mino don't scream at me like that .. I'm not an old woman, so you don't have to shout into your phone..." she grumbled and buried herself under her blanket.<br/>
<em>"No, you just sound like one."</em> Was all she got to hear.<br/>
"Why are you calling me this early? Is there anything for free?"<br/>
<em>"I wanted to look at the storm damage and ask you if you wanna join me. Certainly gives some good snapshots."</em> Yes Minoru was a die-hard hobby photographer.<br/>
"And why the hell do you want ME to be around? ..."<br/>
<em>"As some sort of nice decoration in between all the chaos."</em> He laughed.<br/>
"Slimy one. Okay I'll be at your place in about an hour .." she hung up and forced herself to get up.</p><p> </p><p>As she was standing in front of his door, ringing, still suffering from a massive lack of sleep, she got a suitable answer thrown at her head when Minoru opened.<br/>
"Okay, now at least I have the right picture in mind the next time I hear you talking like this ..." he eyed her from top to bottom. Then he disappeared behind the door again, got his not exactly that cheap camera and the two of them set off to examine the surrounding area for storm damage.<br/>
"It wasn't my fault that I couldn't keep an eye closed ..."<br/>
Mino looked at her skeptically and frowned right before his nose disappeared behind the camera. He took a picture of a flock of pigeons that they just had startled.<br/>
"My demon apparently thought that I've had enough sleep lately ..." she grumbled, knowing that Mino would roll his eyes again.</p><p>"Then just add a few sleeping pills the next time you feed your 'demon'? How about that?" He started to grin.<br/>
Sure he wasn't serious and always kidding her when she brought the subject up.<br/>
Of course, she didn't really believe that there actually was a demon that causes the strange events in her apartment either, especially since she had never seen one, but she had grown used to blame him for all the events over the years. So at least her friends knew what she was talking about.<br/>
She also had to admit that she was quite interested in the subject, even if she wasn't sure if she should believe it. Without wanting to admit it to her friends, she had already gathered a lot of information around that topic.</p><p>At first, she was pretty battered and overwhelmed by the whole thing. Who would like to have unexplainable noises in the apartment or like to observe how things in immediate vicinity become independent and move without any real explanation?<br/>
So she had been looking for a way to take away the fear and play it down. It worked pretty well with the idea of a harmless, attention-seeking demon dwelling in her apartment.<br/>
And to reinforce this belief, she had even gotten into the habit of talking to him. Even if she had never received an answer.<br/>
Her friends however, were giving this peculiarity of hers some more than strange looks. Especially Mino.</p><p>Her best friend sighed. "Eyvi, if this bothers you so much, why don't you simply look for another apartment? ..."<br/>
Outraged by this question, Eyvi blew her cheeks. "Because - That - You know exactly that I can't afford it without a job! The apartment is still financed by my parents, even though they moved back to England. They were so generous and gave it to me. That would be pretty rude if I tried to find my own now, right? Besides, I don't want to leave this city ... I feel comfortable here ..." The last sentence was little more than a whisper.</p><p>Mino just shook his head. "You really can be strange from time to time, you know that?"<br/>
A grin crept onto her lips. "You tell me often enough, so I will hardly forget it."<br/>
The two of them started to laugh. When they calmed down, Mino started to scan the damage, at first trying to get Eyvi into his pictures as a background actor. The afternoon passed by and Eyvi came to the fore more and more.<br/>
When it was already dawn he only had eyes - uh lens, for the black-haired girl in front of him, whose hair got a slight reddish tinge in the light of the setting sun.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The later the evening, the livelier Eyvi became. At least that's what it seemed to Minoru. <br/>"Seems like you're finally awake." He tweaked her slightly as she sprinted past him only to jump onto a fallen tree shortly after. <br/>"If you go on like this, your daily rhythm will change, so you'll sleep through the day and close no eye at night ..."<br/>Playful overdramatic, she was ignoring her friend, lay down and ran the back of her hand over her forehead. While doing so, she made a rather strange face. "It's already too late."<br/>Mino had to laugh, which made it difficult to hold the camera still.<br/>"You should try your luck as model." he joked as he looked at the picture.<br/>Eyvi sat up and sighed. "I'm pretty sure I even would do that ... I would be glad about every job offer that comes up at the moment... my savings won't last any longer ..."<br/>"Speaking of savings ... Are you hungry? We haven't eaten anything today." the blonde boy said while putting the camera back in his pocket.<br/>In the short silence that followed he clearly could hear Eyvis stomach growling. <br/>"I take that as a yes." Mino offered her his hand and helped her down the tree trunk. "Come on, I'll pay."<br/>She twisted her face slightly at the words. "All right ... But once I am a super model, we'll fly to France in my private jet, go eat lobster and I will pay." She winked at him.<br/>"Agreed."<br/>"No wait. Bad idea ... I don't even like lobster."<br/>"Have you ever tried it?" Mino frowned as he couldn't quite imagine that fact.<br/>"Who knows, who knows." Eyvi grinned meaningfully and ran ahead. He followed her, shaking his head.</p><p>When the first street lamps began to lighten up the slowly rising night, the two young adults had not quite reached their restaurant of choice.<br/>As always, the streets were not that busy. The small town was neither a metropolis, nor a tourist magnet or even a transit point.<br/>Nevertheless, there were plenty of shops and leisure facilities that made you feel comfortable, so when it mattered, you didn't even have to leave the city.<br/>Mino and Eyvi were strolling along the lonely street, which was still poorly lit due to the early evening, when a  loud clank from one of the side streets let them twitch.<br/>Eyvi glanced towards the alley, kind of intrested in what may have just happened. <br/>"It probably just was a cat that knocked over a garbage can." Minoru dropped, who seemed to be interpreting the expression of his companion the right way. But his words didn't get through to her. As if she was in trance, she started moving until she disappeared into the shadows of said alley.<br/>"Eyvi! Come on, let your curiosity stay down at least once! I'm hungry, god damn it!" he shouted after her, but as he expected, there was no answer. <br/>Grumbling quietly in his nonexistent beard, he finally trotted after her, as he had done so many times in his life.<br/>Quietly; at least of her side of view; Eyvi stalked forward to the origin of the noise. Or rather where she suspected it to be. She could feel her heart start to beat faster and a slight hint of adrenaline spread through her body. She loved that feeling. <br/>No game, as realistic as it may be, could do that feeling justice. There was nothing that would even slightly reach it. Nothing beats the real experience of feeling this tingling in her stomach in a real situation. It was this sensation and the curiosity that completely occupied her and left no room for fear or any concerns.<br/>Disappointed, she finally stopped in front of the overturned garbage can.<br/>"Seems like you were right ..." Eyvi mumbled slightly demotivated and nudged her toe so that the can started rolling half a meter.<br/>"Can we finally go to have a meal now? ..." Mino already drooped his shoulders listlessly as if he was about to collapse.<br/>Eyvi was about to turn and give an approving murmur, when a stinging smell hit her nose.<br/>A disgusted sound escaped her throat as she wrinkled her nose and waved her palm right in front of her face.<br/>"Uagh .. do you smell that?"<br/>"... If you mean the garbage ... yes I smell it, after all it is spread out in front of us ..." Mino rolled his eyes in annoyance. Eyvi really overacted from time to time.<br/>"No, I don't mean the garbage." she hissed "It smells more like ... like ..." she snapped the fingers of her free hand, which she didn't use for waving, searching for the right words. ".. like ... decomposing flesh or something like that..."<br/>Now her counterpart frowned, took a few steps towards her and deliberately took a deep breath.<br/>Shortly after his eyes widened and he started to cough heavily. "Buahg, that's disgusting! I almost lost my appetite!" holding his nose shut, he glanced at Eyvi with his gray eyes as if she knew the answer to this situation.<br/>"That's what I'm saying!" he got as an answer.<br/>"... Where does it come from?" still disgusted, he looked around the alley but couldn't see anything unusual.<br/>Only a few seconds later he had an answer. Well, more or less. As if a strong gust of wind swept through the alley and knocked over everything that stood in its way ... problem was, there was no wind.<br/>"Wow, what's going on?!" Mino startled and grabbed Eyvi by the wrist from pure reflex, pulled her behind his body, and spread his arms protectively in front of her. <br/>Eyvi herself tried to get rid of Mino's hand in front of her nose. There was something interesting happening outside of her apartment and Mino seriously had to act as her protector? Oh please! For years she had been used to nothing but self-flying objects.<br/>When even the garbage can that Eyvi just had kicked off, flew to the other side of the alley with a loud crash, Mino already took a few steps back in panic, forcing Eyvi to pull away as well.<br/>His eyes scanned the street in front of him fast-paced, but he just couldn't see anything unusual. At least until Mino himself was knocked to the side of the road by the windless gust of wind, just like the defenseless garbage cans prior. <br/>Eyvi only had time to call out his name, then the blow hit her from the other direction, so she landed on the opposite wall.<br/>A sudden pain went through her arm, which she had held out to protect her from reflex. <br/>She examined the part of her body, slightly dazed. Her red sweatshirt, the sleeves of which had always been too long for her and which she wore under her dark jacket, was torn. She could see some scratches running parallel down her skin. <br/>'Since when do gusts of wind scratch your arm? ...' the thought shot through her head. There was no trace of possible fear or panic. She only thought the whole situation was kinda strange. Something like this had never happened to her before.<br/>When Mino gave a tormented groan, she looked up at him and started crawling over to his side of the alley.<br/>"Mino! Hey! Are you all right?" She launched a shake attack.<br/>After blinking disoriented a few times, his eyes focused on a point that was probably somewhere behind Eyvi. His eyes grew as big as golf balls.<br/>"E - Ey - Eyvi ..." apparently he noticed that his voice did not want to obey him, that was why he only nodded hardly noticeably in the direction in which he was staring.<br/>At that very moment Eyvi could hear a heavy breath behind her, which seemed to blow that acrid stench towards her once more. <br/>A shudder of disgust and an uneasy premonition ran down her back and left even the smallest hairs on end.<br/>Slowly she turned her head, careful not to move more than necessary.<br/>Shocked, her linden-green eyes finally stared into a pair of hot red ones.<br/>The sudden shock caused her to flinch, land on her very best, and huddle against the wall, right next to Mino.<br/>"You- you see that as well, do you?" she breathed in his direction.<br/>"The thing that looks like it came straight out of one of your beloved horror thrillers? ... Jop."<br/>"I think it looks more like how it smells: dead!" Eyvi hissed, ignoring Mino's allusions about her film taste.<br/>The 'thing' that Mino had dubbed so professionally caused a deep rumble.<br/>"A zombie ?!" Mino looked over to Eyvi for help, who, despite everything, seemed to be more calm than he was.<br/>"No. That's not a zombie... it's a Ghoul."<br/>"Huh?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Huh? And that means? ..." with Eyvis statement Minorus brain stopped working.<br/>
"What it means? Get out of here !!" Suddenly she jumped up, pulled him by the wrist and ran off, as if stung by a tarantula.<br/>
"Ghoul?!?" he roared towards Eyvi as she dragged him with her without Mino  understanding what was happening to him.<br/>
"Yes Ghoul ..." she turned to look at his questioning face, then rolled her eyes and simplified the explanation. "... a demon."<br/>
"What?! You are sharing your appartement with a creature like that?!"<br/>
Eyvis' eyes darkened. "No you stupid, that just was a real demon okay ... real means in the case of you stopping and staring at him because of his great undamaged baby skin -" that was clearly irony "- then he will almost certainly tear your skull off!"<br/>
"But I like my skull where it is ... and I'm sure it feels very comfortable on my neck as well..." Mino murmured, apparently slightly traumatized by the events.<br/>
"Hm, you could have taken a photo then you could have stared at him in peace."<br/>
"How can you crack such dry jokes in a situation like that?!"<br/>
"Why not? Do you always have to dramatize everything right away?" Eyvi wrinkled her nose and pulled her best friend into a fortunately still open, brightly lit shop.<br/>
"Ghoules don't like bright light ..." she murmured, looking around the shop, totally chilled as if nothing had happened.<br/>
Mino stood, well, he was breathing heavily while propping up on his knees, in the middle of the room and probably would have loved to just drop down like a sack of potatoes.<br/>
His heart was racing like crazy and his mind was on a roller coaster. First he had to process what he saw. He followed Eyvi suspiciously with his eyes. She seemed to be completely blasé about what had happened.<br/>
"Eyvi? ..." he straightened up and his breath slowly normalized.<br/>
"Hmm?" she made a sound, lost in thoughts, as she turned a small porcelain can in her hand that seemed to get all of her attention.<br/>
"... how- how do you know that?"<br/>
"Know what?" taken offguard by the strange question and torn from her thoughts, she turned her head in his direction and, carelessly as she was, dropped the can, which immediately burst. She winced for a moment when she realized that she had screwed up.<br/>
Minoru only face palmed. "I mean, how do you know about ... um ... well ... demons?"<br/>
He knelt next to her, helping her pick up the broken pieces.<br/>
"Google." His girlfriend shrugged without a look on her face and stood up.<br/>
"... Are you serious?" he watched her in disbelief as she waddled to the cash register and rang the small bell to report the damage and pay for it.<br/>
"Jup. I mean there is a lot of trash going around on the internet, but if you are interested in the topic you just remember everything you pick up.<br/>
And in the end you can see what is true and what is not, right? And God, I really don't know everything. Certainly some things are wrong. I just know enough to tell you that you shouldn't keep Ghoules as pets. "<br/>
"And do you have an explanation for why this monster-"<br/>
"-Ghoul." She kept correcting, but Mino ignored it as usual.<br/>
"-was invisible at first?"<br/>
"Nope. I wasn't even sure until ten minutes ago whether demons are actually walking around in our world ... However, I think that this incident clearly proves it, right?"<br/>
He was about to reply, but the shopkeeper came into the room and looked at the broken can with a sorrow.</p><p>After Eyvi paid off her debts, they left the small shop. Minoru felt quite uneasy. After all, this Ghoul could still be nearby ...<br/>
Eyvi, on the other hand, stretched out with relish, took in the fresh air, smacked her lips happily, and then asked: "Didn't we want to go get dinner?"<br/>
"Huh ?! Don't tell me you're still hungry! Thank you, but I lost my appetite at the sight of this mild harbinger of death!"<br/>
Eyvi made a face. "I told you, you're a drama queen. I just have a healthy, strong stomach."<br/>
But Mino only listened to her with one ear. He had raised his sweater and was examining the strange wound on his hip; just where the ghoul had hit him.<br/>
It finally caught Eyvis' attention and made her forget her hunger.<br/>
"... you should show this to a doctor ..." she then murmured.<br/>
"You're right, for once. It's not big, but it looks pretty bad anyway..."<br/>
Eyvi nodded. Then she looked at her own scratches. They had a shape similar to Minorus' stain on the hip.<br/>
"I guess I should come with you."<br/>
"Emergency? I doubt that another doctor is still on duty at this time ..."<br/>
She just nodded again in agreement.</p><p>She felt slightly stupid when she crouched in the emergency room because of a few scratches. As it turned out, however, this was only justified.<br/>
At first, the two adolescents were surprised when some of the doctors in the hospital seemed to be very familiar with demonic injuries.<br/>
In any case, they were able to treat the wounds quite effectively. They were also told that they had been right about what they were doing.<br/>
Injuries caused by a ghoul should not be ignored, but treated as quickly as possible, otherwise it could take on some 'unsightly proportions' as described by the doctors.<br/>
Since Mino's stomach had already suffered enough damage for the day, Eyvi refrained from questioning these 'unsightly proportions' in detail.</p><p>In the late evening, Eyvi finally staggered up the stairs to her front door. It took seven attempts to insert the key into the keyhole.<br/>
When she let herself fall onto the couch with a loud groan, her belly announced itself on duty and growled at her.<br/>
'Right, I haven't eaten since this morning ...' she recalled. Something had always goten in the way during the day.<br/>
So she forced herself to stand up again, grabbed the oversized cereal bowl she loved so much, filled it to the top, poured the rest of the milk that she had left over from the night, put it on the kitchen table and dropped herself in front of it.<br/>
When the first spoon was gone in her mouth, she closed her eyes and chewed the flakes with relish.<br/>
The soft crunching only seemed to put her to sleep more and more, so she had to make sure that her nose did not end up in the bowl.<br/>
Even when she swallowed the first load, the crunching didn't vanish...<br/>
'Wait I'm not that tired to imagine things.' She opened her eyes and stared in amazement at her cereal bowl.<br/>
Apparently she wasn't the only one who was hungry ...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What the..." Eyvi lowered the spoon and pierced the red-green something on her table. It was fishing flakes out of her milk with its long, broad tongue, again and again.<br/>
Maybe THIS was the reason for the strange happenings in her apartment? Then why could she see it all at once? ... Had it eaten secretly from her plates all the time without her noticing it? Insolence.<br/>
She wrinkled her nose indignant, crossed her arms over her chest and cleared her throat.<br/>
The rather small pupils compared to the giant eyes, darted in Eyvi's direction, but without taking the tongue out of the bowl. It paused in its meal and its eyes flitted to all sides as if trying to find a reason why the girl was staring down at it until it realized that she seemed to be able to see it. Its tongue still was hanging in the milk. The fact that it was no longer invisible seemed to upset the creature, apparently it hadn't expected Eyvi to notice.<br/>
As much as she refused to do so, she couldn't help but thought the picture was cute in a quirky way, which was why she started to giggle slightly.<br/>
Her counterpart on the table carefully pulled his tongue back and looked at her questioningly, as if he couldn't understand why she thought the situation was so funny. <br/>
Then his eyes widened with joyful realization, since she hadn't run off screaming and the creature began to jump up and down like a bouncy ball.<br/>
Eyvi frowned. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? ..."<br/>
Her subtenant stopped his bouncing tirade and looked at her questioningly again for a moment, until something seemed to occur to him, what he didn't seem to like much.<br/>
With a big thump through which the milk spilled out of the bowl, he landed on his round stomach because he had his limbs stretched out.<br/>
Eyvi wasn't able to make head nor tail of the little guy's behavior. "Do you want to tell me something? ... I'm sorry, I don't understand a single word." she shrugged apologetically.<br/>
He pouted sadly. At least that's how it looked from Eyvis view. She almost felt sorry for him.<br/>
"Grml ..." grumbling dissatisfied and slightly undecided, she hesitantly held out her hand. <br/>
"I'd really like to talk to you, it's not like that ... and I always thought I was talking to myself ..."<br/>
With her last words, her palm had stopped right above the strange monster and before she could think for another 10 minutes whether she should put her hand on his back or not, the decision was made by him accommodating her movement and bridging the remaining gap.<br/>
"Seems like you think so as well?" Eyvi grinned broadly. "What are we going to do about this..." while considering, she subconsciously started crawling him behind one of the two ears, which reminded her slightly of the ears of a pig. It didn't seem to displease him because he closed his eyes and let it endure. <br/>
Eyvi put her head down on the table top and now watched her subtenant at the same height. Her hand went from his ear under his chin and he stretched with relish.<br/>
"... what are you ..." she whispered more to herself and lost in her thoughts.<br/>
Slowly the creature opened its right eye and looked at her.<br/>
"Hm? Will I get an answer?" she asked with a wide grin.<br/>
Then she felt a rough, huge tongue on her face.<br/>
"Bah!" surprised she sat up. She hadn't seen that coming at all. Mino would probably have passed out long ago. The thought made her laugh once more.<br/>
Then she turned back to the creature on her kitchen table.<br/>
"Since I only see you after I have had this encounter with the Ghoul-" she paused briefly when he gave a strange growl at the word 'ghoul', but then continued. "- Yes, I don't like Ghouls either - but obviously you've been messing around in my apartment for over five years without me noticing ... <br/>
and I couldn't see the Ghoul before ... and the Ghoul is a demon ... I’m assuming you’re also a kind of demon then, right? .." She looked at him expectantly. He made a somewhat strange movement, which could have been interpreted as nodding. He scrutinized her as if she were about to show the usual reaction: ranning off screaming. Instead, her grin just widened.<br/>
"Don't worry, it doesn't bother me at all, I've gotten used to you too much the past years." She winked at him. "And I think you have no problem with me and the fact that I'm a human either, right? Otherwise you would hardly have held out so long with me beeing around... Hmmm the only thing missing is the explanation of what has changed the basic situation, so I can suddenly see you... "</p><p>After a few minutes of silence, he seemed to have a flash of inspiration, because suddenly he jumped up from the table, ran purposefully across the room, and disappeared from the open window with a jump.<br/>
Amazed, Eyvi watched him go until she ran to the window and yelled joking  into the night: "You will be home at twelve o'clock!"<br/>
Then she left the kitchen, the window still open, and lay down in her bed. She felt like she  definitely deserved the sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When she was awakened by the sun's rays that fell through her window, she blinked sleepily into the void of her bedroom. At that moment, she still considered yesterday's events to be a strange dream.<br/>
She rolled over to the side, where a slobbering, huge, rough tongue just had waited for landing mercilessly right in the middle of her face.<br/>
"Mhm!" she complained because she woke up in an instant.<br/>
When she opened her own eyes, the big ones of her house demon stared at her.<br/>
"Morning..." Eyvi finally muttered as she sat up and stretched. She got up, slumbered barefooted into the kitchen, and devoted herself to the fridge. <br/>
The giant-tongue followed her at every turn. Eyvi suspected he would have even run after her if she had turned in circles ... <br/>
With her loot from the fridge, she crumbled back into her pillow castle.<br/>
Why getting up early - she checked her watch, it was eleven in the morning - so, as said, getting up early in the morning? <br/>
The mail in the mailbox didn't run away - for a moment Eyvi seriously considered whether there were demons who had taken possession of the mail left behind - and since she was unemployed at the moment and was only waiting to hear of her applications, she still had time the whole day to get up. <br/>
Without asking - how should he have asked - the demon hopped on the bed and bit off a not quite small piece of her granola bar.<br/>
She looked at him, irritated by this action. <br/>
"This is my bed." she stated dryly. "And this is-" with one bite, the rest of her breakfast disappeared into his stomach. "... this WAS my breakfast ..."<br/>
But when she looked at him, she wasn't even mad. <br/>
She sighed. "You've probably stayed in my bed often enough without me noticing, haven't you?"<br/>
She got up and ran into the kitchen once more. This time he stayed seated and pricked up his ears.<br/>
Eyvi came back with two plates. "Do me a favor and get used to eating from your own dishes." With that she put the plate right in front of his nose. She just assumed that demons consumed pretty much the same things as humans did. <br/>
After all, he had apparently filled his stomach of her purchases over the years and was still alive.</p><p>After the demon had licked the plate clean, he rolled onto his back and gave the poor dish an involuntary flight lesson that ended in a crash on the floor.<br/>
"I see you still like to spread chaos..." But instead of being angry or clearing the broken pieces, she only scratched his stomach.<br/>
"I think we will get along quite well, right? After all, Mino always calls me chaos incarnate... I really don't get what he means ... maybe you know?"<br/>
Her 'conversation partner' had already closed his eyes and only shrugged his left ear briefly when asked.<br/>
"Yeah okay, for example there was the incident with the porcelain box in that shop yesterday ... But it wasn't my fault. Mino pestered me with questions. So there formed holes because of the pestering... and with holes in your stomach, you easily lose your balance and then let things fall... which then break ... and which you then have to pay ... "<br/>
The demon just grumbled in agreement. Whether it was serious or if he just wanted Eyvi to shut up for five minutes, she couldn't tell.</p><p>At lunchtime, she finally took pity on the mail. The demon still stuck to her verses.<br/>
Lost in thought, she opened the two envelopes.<br/>
"... Two more rejections ... Slowly I start thinking I'm doing something wrong ..." slightly depressed, she sank onto the sofa. <br/>
"And I thought my mom was joking when she told me it's not easy to get a foothold in the industry ..."<br/>
She had already applied in all sorts of more creative and / or non-couch potato professions, and was even ready to move further away ... unfortunately none of this seemed to help, presumably she would end up behind a dusty desk and be bored to death day after day...<br/>
"... Would you at least keep me company while I'm bored?" Eyvi looked down at her roommate. "I mean ... my potential colleagues would probably not see or notice you anyway ... well as long as you don't steal their breakfast or devastate the office."<br/>
He snorted and growled slightly upset. Then she scratched him behind his ear and he calmed down again.<br/>
"But you know what, I'm interested in what kind of demon I share my apartment with. I think I should be allowed to know that, don't you think so? And since you unfortunately can not tell me, I probably have to find out myself .. "<br/>
Eyvi grabbed her laptop, dropped herself on her stomach on the sofa, and started typing on the keyboard.<br/>
Interested in what the girl was doing, the demon hopped on her back and peeked over her shoulder.<br/>
Since she already had experience in googling demons, as strange as this might sound, it only took her about half an hour to find a very interesting page. There was, among other things, some kind of online lexicon, which showed the most diverse demons with a description, possibly pictures, affiliation and above all ... countermeasures.<br/>
As her eyes read over the words, her right hand wandered upwards where the demon had spread on her shoulder and tickled him soothingly under his chin as she mumbled: "... So I don't want to get rid of you ... After all, I'm not all alone in the huge apartment ... but the rest seems to be kinda interesting ..."<br/>
After finding what she was looking for, she closed the laptop and turned on her back, so that the demon had to dodge to the back of the sofa just to splash on her stomach shortly after as if the backrest were a diving platform.<br/>
"Hobgoblin ..." she said in a low voice what she had just read "... an earth demon, I see. They didn't classify you as very dangerous, so I don't think anyone will bother about the fact that you are here." Eyvi thought about it for a moment. "Stupid thought, after all no one cared about it so far, there was no need to."<br/>
She shrugged and turned on the television. She just hoped things would stay the same in the near future ...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Since Eyvi had nodded off while watching TV, she flinched at the sound of the doorbell in alarm. She sat up and looked around, searching for the Hobgoblin, but couldn't find him anywhere. So she got up and went to the intercom.<br/>"Yes?" she asked.<br/>"It's me, open up." she heard Minoru's muffled voice through the receiver.<br/>Eyvi let him in and walked back into the living room without waiting until he was in the apartment. So he found her sitting on the sofa, already grinning. <br/>"Why are you grinning at me like that? ... That's scary. Stop it." But Mino also had to smile when he dropped into the armchair opposite of her couch.<br/>"How was work going?" she asked after a few minutes, leaned back and placed her feet on the low table between the sofa and armchairs. Since her parents no longer lived with her in one house, the grumbling that had always followed this action never came. <br/>"Well, like work usually is." Mino winked at her.<br/>"Doesn't sound very exciting ... maybe you did something more interesting today?" Eyvi stuck out her tongue at him.<br/>"Honestly ... as I become more and more undecided from day to day about what you would classify as 'interesting', as it gets more and more dangerously close to 'strange' or 'tired of life', let's just say: I stopped by at your place right after work, so I didn't have time for 'something more interesting'."<br/>Eyvi laughed. "Fine, be glad that at least one of us has something to tell!" She wanted to get started, telling him about her discovery but Mino cut her off.<br/>"Hey I didn't say I didn't have anything interesting to tell, you just asked if I DID something interesting."<br/>"Alright." she looked at him in surprise. "Then go ahead, ladies first."<br/>Ignoring the comment, Mino began his story: "Seems like you're not the only one in the area who has problems with demons in the apartment or on their property."<br/>"I wouldn't call it a problem right now."<br/>Mino ignored her again. "But you definitly are the only one that fact doesn't seem to bother you. Anyways-"<br/>At that moment something suddenly appeared, due to the closeness, very blurry, greenish in Mino's field of vision, which was clinging to the ceiling lamp with his tail and dangling upside down right in front of his nose. The boy was so terrified of the Hobgoblin that he pushed himself back into the armchair until it finally gave way and toppled over.<br/>With a loud, scared cry, Mino went down.<br/>This sound also apparently frightened the demon, because he escaped right through Eyvis legs under the sofa.<br/>She eyed the situation quite amused. "Apparently my house demon doesn't think it's funny if you ignore my comments!" Now she was laughing out loud.<br/>"House demon!?!" Mino jumped up in horror.<br/>"Please don't tell me you were right all these years and that ... that you have now founded a flat with this ... thing!" He pointed to the sofa.<br/>"Hm? My sofa can't found a flat share ..." Eyvi frowned. Surprisingly well without a grin.<br/>But when Mino rolled his eyes in annoyance and answered: "I didn't mean the couch!" she couldnt hold back any longer, starting to laugh again.<br/>"Nice that I am contributing so much to your amusement ..." he grumbled, picked up the armchair and sat down again. "But please tell your pet to stop attacking me..."<br/>"First, he's not my pet. More like a roommate. And second, he didn't attack you." She wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms over her chest.<br/>Minoru eyed the place where the demon had disappeared under the couch suspiciously and could only see two big, shining eyes in the dark, glaring at him. <br/>"Anyway ... Then what I have to say might catch your interest even more."<br/>Eyvi listened up.<br/>"Since, as I mentioned, you are the only person who seems to think it's great to share a house with a demon-"<br/>"How do you know that? Just because you are such a coward in front of them, this phobia doesn't have to spread to all of humanity."<br/>"- other people are looking for help to get rid of them." Mino had perfected not to listen to Eyvis' comments that he just didn't want to hear over the years. <br/>"Ah .. and how should this help look like? ..." She didn’t feel good about it at all.<br/>"They're calling an exorcist. Only logical, isn't it? You are the one who watches these kind of movies all the time, you should actually be able to imagine that."<br/>There was a deep, harsh growl coming from under the couch.<br/>"Your couch is hungry." Mino mumbled, who apparently wasn't pleased that the demon still was with them.<br/>Eyvi stared at Mino with a mixture of disappointment and annoyance. Then she sighed briefly and her eyes relaxed.<br/>"You know, as long as they leave me, my apartment, my 'couch' or everything that goes with it -" Eyvi pointed down towards the Hobgoblin "- be, they can exorcise as much as they want."<br/>"By the way, I took an example from you and googled a little while." At this sentence, he grabbed Eyvis's laptop, which was still lying on the sofa, and opened it.<br/>His face took on a surprised expression when he saw the side that Eyvi hadn't closed.<br/>"Yikes .. you found it by yourself."<br/>"What did I find?" She raised an eyebrow.<br/>"Well, the webside of the True Cross Order." <br/>"I deem that a rumor." Without knowing what Mino meant, she thought it best to disclaim the situation.<br/>He just rolled his eyes once more, then turned the laptop over to her so she could see the screen and pointed to a corner of the page where the logo and name of said order could be seen.<br/>"There."<br/>"...Ah." Eyvi looked up questioningly from the laptop and Minoru right into the eyes. "And what is this supposed to tell me now? ..."<br/>"It is an association of exorcists who fight demons on behalf of the Vatican."<br/>Eyvis' eyes remained skeptical even after this explanation.<br/>"Now don't look like a troll, I don't like that." Mino winked at her and grinned.<br/>Her facial expression relaxed a little, then she asked with another sigh: "And why the hell are you showing this to me?"<br/>"Why?" her friend asked without understanding. "Isn't that obvious?"<br/>"No. If you wanted to send me any encrypted messages within your speech, then unfortunately I have to tell you that I am currently sitting in a radio hole ..."<br/>"Because I am considering whether I should add exorcist training after my apprenticeship as a mechatronic engineer."<br/>Eyvi frowned. "Do what you want. When do you have your final exams?"<br/>"Three months from now."<br/>"Didn't your workshop actually offer you a job after your training? Would be quite stupid if you refused..."<br/>"Yes ... but I don't think the incident with the Ghoul happened to us without reason Eyvi ... Don't you think if you are already able to see demons you are somehow obliged to protect people who cannot protect themselves because they do not have this ability? How do you want to take care of something you don't even see ... "<br/>"All right, but you pretend that every demon is as dangerous as an atomic bomb. Certainly some are just happy to be able to live in peace, aren't they?" At the last word she leaned down and looked under the sofa, grinning. Her question was answered in form of the big tongue, which had once again found its way to Eyvis face. <br/>Mino grimaced in disgust as he watched, but said nothing more about it. "So if you really want to do this, go ahead. Apply, otherwise you'll be too late to catch up right after you finished your current training."<br/>She had pulled the Hobgoblin from under the sofa and sat him on her lap. There he kept on grumbling. <br/>"Ehm Eyvi actually I thought-" Minoru started, but couldn't manage to finish his sentance. <br/>Eyvi had apparently decided to support her best friend with everything in her power, even if she thought it was stupid. <br/>"And that would be advisable. In resumes, it doesn't go well if you haven't done anything for a long time. If you need help, I still have everything you need to know to write an application, I've done that enough times the past few weeks."<br/>"Yeah ... you only got rejections so far .. and you really want to help me there?" Mino frowned.<br/>"It was certainly not due to the form of the application, but rather to the occupations for which I applied. So shut up." Slightly offended, she crossed her arms over her chest.<br/>"You know .. about that-"<br/>"I said shut up. I'll help you whether you like it or not." Eyvi jumped up, causing the demon to jump to the sofa next to her and disappeared into the hallway.<br/>"Ehhr .. Eyvi ..." Now Mino looked at Eyvis 'roommate' who just glared at the boy silently. "Don't leave me alone with... this."<br/>"Stop whining so badly!" her voice came from the kitchen.<br/>"It. Stares. At. Me." Minoru didn't take his eyes off the demon for a second and involuntarily tensed.<br/>He noticed how he was pushing himself back into the armchair. "I feel noticeably uncomfortable right now!" he finally hissed when no reply came from his girlfriend to his previous statement.<br/>When she finally appeared in the doorway with a few folders in her hand, she snorted angrily.<br/>"But YOU are not staring at HIM at all ... no wonder that he can't take his eyes off the strange grimace of yours right now, Mino ..."<br/>She sat back on the sofa and handed the documents to her visitor.<br/>"Yeah .. thank you ... but you know, I thought-"<br/>"Please be happy. Even if I still think that the whole idea is pretty crazy."<br/>"I actually only wanted to do that if-"<br/>"Hmm .. what does an exorcist actually earn? ... Do they even earn money with their work?" Eyvi scratched the back of her head.<br/>"What-"<br/>"Would only be assumable, right ? I mean they have to live from something as well?" Now she frowned thoughtfully.<br/>"Eyvi !!"<br/>"Huh?" She looked at Mino, perplexed.<br/>"I actually thought that you weren't just supporting me passively ..." he mumbled a bit worried now.<br/>"What do you mean? ..." Eyvi seemed; as so often; to draw a mental blank.<br/>"Well .. you don't have an apprenticeship anyway and as it looks you won't find one anytime soon ... you should really worry about it. As you said, too long dry spells in resumes don't go well ... "<br/>"Wooow wait a minute." she got enlightend. "You want ME to become an exorcist?!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Wooow wait a minute." finally she understood what he meant "You want me to become an exorcist?!"<br/>
Mino nodded slightly unsettled because she seemed to be so upset about that fact.<br/>
"Better than you stay unemployed all your life and share a couch with a demon ... Besides ... I would love to go to school with you." Now he was grinning slightly.<br/>
Yes, Mino and Eyvi never went to school together, which might have been because he was two years older than her.<br/>
"With all my friendship Mino .. but .. no. I mean you can still do it, but I will certainly not let myself be talked around just because you got into your head to drag me along."<br/>
"Oh come on, YOU always tell me not to act up like that!" Offended, he blew up his cheeks.<br/>
"This is something completely different! If I say something like that, it wouldn't have a great impact on your future!"<br/>
"Nooooo" now irony was sneaking up to Mino's words. "If I calmly stand in front of a Ghoul and let myself be eaten, it certainly has no effect on my future, pffff how do I come up with something so stupid!" He waved it off.<br/>
"Stop mocking me! My ass!" Eyvi was up. Her tone was anything but friendly at that moment. "This whole exorcist stuff isn't the right thing for everyone, okay? You have to accept that! I have never let anyone make important decisions in my life, because in the end I am the one who has to live with the consequences, and not the people who think it could go well and then raise their hands as if it was not their problem and bunk off when things go wrong. And don't you think I can judge about what I can do well and what I can't? I know myself best."<br/>
"Yeah .. I can already see WHAT you can handle ..." Mino's eyes were dark when his gaze went to the Hobgoblin who was still sitting on the couch and was following the argument with suspense.<br/>
"Are you jealous of a demon?!" in disbelief she seemed to slowly understand what Mino's problem was.<br/>
"Stop bullshitting!" he snapped at her and also got up. "I'm just worried about you! First of all: if you don't find an apprenticeship soon, that won't change in ten years! And secondly: who guarantees that your 'roommate' remains as friendly and sociable as before?"<br/>
"Well BECAUSE he has always been like this! Even in the years when I could not see him! His behavior has not changed, except that I can now see how he reacts when I talk to him!"<br/>
"And you think that's a credible argument ?!" Mino was beside himself. How could Eyvi be so gullible.<br/>
"I don't need a guard to watch over me, Mino! That annoyed me so much when my parents did it and now that they are gone and have finally realized that I am an adult and can take care of myself, you start with the same shit! You just want me to accompany you to your stupid academy so that you can keep an eye on me! Now tell me seriously: WHAT have I done to you that you trust me so little?! Have I ever given you a reason to believe that I can't handle things alone?"<br/>
An icy silence spread between the two.<br/>
"I think I should go before I say something I regret afterwards ..." Minoru finally murmured, took the jacket he had hung over the armchair and left Eyvis apartment without another word.</p><p>"Idiot." was all that Eyvi could think of. "Just don't have a conversation or answer my questions, that probably could piss me off ... Did you ever notice that I've already been pissed off for a long time?!" she roared towards the door through which her friend had disappeared shortly before.<br/>
Groaning in annoyance, she dropped back onto the sofa.<br/>
The Hobgoblin was sitting slightly undecided and apparently didn't really know what to do. After all, he had been the trigger for the argument. <br/>
Eyvi seemed to notice that.<br/>
"Hey don't worry, I'm not angry with you, you didn't do anything. You can't do anything about Mino being such a dumbass, can you?"</p><p>Without Eyvi noticing, the demon's gaze wandered to the clock hanging on the wall. Then he became restless. He jumped off the sofa, ran to the balcony door, opened it, and then hopped up and down the door frame.<br/>
"What is it? Do you have to pee? I think you can do that without me ... "<br/>
He stopped bouncing and pierced her with more or less annoyed glanzes.<br/>
"It's okay, I wasn't serious." Eyvi actually thought that would solve the case, but he just kept on hopping as if nothing had happened.<br/>
"It's almost dark outside, I don't feel like going for a walk now ..."<br/>
His tail banged vigorously against the glass of the door.<br/>
"Just don't demolish my interior, I'll warn you! Just leave if you really want to, I won't stop you."<br/>
She was about to grab the remote control and turn on the telly, when one of her shoes hit her head.<br/>
"Ouch!" flabbergasted, she stared at the shoe, then at the demon, and rubbed the area the object had hit her. "Fine, I'm coming! Woe betide it isn't important!"<br/>
She got up as if she were an old lady, put on the one shoe that had flown to her and then hobbled into the hallway to search for the missing one.</p><p>By now it was actually pitch dark outside.<br/>
"You can tell it's getting winter." she murmured as she followed the Hobgoblin out of the house. And since it was winter, it was accordingly cold. Not that Eyvi would care. She put her hands in her pockets and strolled leisurely through the streets. The demon hopped ahead eagerly. He probably would have preferred Eyvi to step it up a notch. But since Eyvi stayed relaxed in most situations, she was not to be put off her trot.<br/>
He continued to lead her to the edge of the city.<br/>
"Hey, I didn't want to take part on a hiking day- ... -night, do you hear me?"<br/>
The demon was not very impressed of her nagging.<br/>
"If you could at least tell me what you're up to ..." she sighed.</p><p>Then the hiking day relocated to the forest near the city.<br/>
After they had spent half the night there (in reality, they had only been on the road for half an hour) and Eyvi began to believe that they were running in circles for the tenth time, they stopped in front of some reandom tree. The Hobgoblin then disappeared in its crown. <br/>
"That's a joke, right? A tree?! If you think I'm cracking up some branches in the dark that I can't even see, I have to disappoint you!"<br/>
Silence.<br/>
"Hello are you still there?"<br/>
When there was no answer, she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her fingers in annoyance.<br/>
"Great ..." she grumbled barely audibly.<br/>
A cracking sound that came from the tree, which had been too loud to be caused by the rather small Hobgoblin, made her look up. Unfortunately, she saw nothing but darkness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As she was staring into the night sky, she felt subtly watched. It was one of the few situations in her life when she got nervous. That hadn't happened to her in a long time ... Usually she always managed to calm her mind with her thoughts, but if the thoughts didn't want to do as she wanted, there was little she could do about it. She cursed herself for suddenly becoming so restless.</p><p>To make matters worse, she was so scared that her heart almost slipped, when something suddenly jumped out of the tree and landed right behind her.<br/>
She immediately spun around, but what happened, happened so quickly that her eyes had no time to consult with her brain what she was seeing. Therefore, only sparse information made it's way through to her.<br/>
There was someone standing in front of her for a fraction of a second, but before she could have even thought about who or what it was, they waved a hand as if to tap her forehead, causing a pain flashing through her head and she felt dizzy in an instant.<br/>
Her hand went to her forehead and she closed her eyes for a moment. When she blinked, she could no longer see anyone around.<br/>
Eyvi stumbled a few steps back until she bumped against the tree with her back and then, still rubbing her head, slid down the trunk and sat there in the soft grass. She was done with this shit and was glad that the pain was already easing.</p><p><em>'Haha, that's something completely new to see you so upset.'</em><br/>
She winced and her head snapped up to the branches of the tree when she heard the strange voice that seemed to be coming from up there.<br/>
<em>'I wouldn't have expected it to throw you off the rails like that.'</em><br/>
It sounded quite amused.<br/>
"What .." Eyvi narrowed her eyes and stared into the darkness until the Hobgoblin dropped from the branches without warning and landed on her lap.<br/>
She stared at him, startled.<br/>
"Please don't scare me like this ... I just had a traumatic experience, show a little sign of indulgence please ..."<br/>
A laughter could be heard.<br/>
<em>'Traumatic experience?'</em><br/>
The laughter grew louder.<br/>
She stared at the demon in disbelief. Did that voice belong to him?!<br/>
"Are you laughing at me right now?" She mocked outraged.<br/>
<em>'How would I do that!'</em> Now he almost couldn't hold himself back at all.<br/>
"Wow wait, wait. Stop.” She held her hand in front of his nose. "Why do I suddenly hear what you say? Did you just remain silent towards me all the time?"<br/>
<em>'As if I'd be shy like that.' </em>she heard in response.<br/>
She looked at him expectantly and waited for an explanation. When he said nothing of the sort, she asked: "... And?"<br/>
<em>'Well you've been nagging all the time you want to talk to me. Now you have what you wanted. '</em><br/>
"Yes, all right ... but .. why all of a sudden ?! What did you do that I can hear you now? "<br/>
<em>'Me? Nothing at all.'</em><br/>
Eyvi frowned. "Okay, well, then I'll formulate the question differently ... Who or what was that, and does that person has something to do with it by chance, or did you even contrive that meet up? But Most importantly, why the hell did it flip me?! You don't just flip people randomly! Especially not without warning! Gosh, what is that behavior! Just imagine! Running around the streets and just flipping someone else's ear!"<br/>
The Hobgoblin had to laugh so much that he even rolled off Eyvis' lap.<br/>
<em>'Delightful! Now that I really understand every word of what you say, your sentences are even more entertaining!'</em><br/>
"Haha, great ..." she grumbled, slightly moping, "But that doesn't justify the flipping. Would you kindly give me an answer now?"<br/>
When the demon had calmed down again, he did the girl a favor and answered her question.<br/>
<em>'The flipping had about the same effect as a Mashou has.'</em><br/>
"Mash- what? I only know marshmallows ..."<br/>
<em>'If I explain something to you, at least stay serious.'</em><br/>
"I AM serious!"<br/>
<em>'Well .. then for the stupid. Damn I think I have to start all over again from the beginning, right?'</em><br/>
"Would be nice, yes."<br/>
The Hobgoblin let out a sigh.<br/>
<em>'So then ... since we haven't had an opportunity to do so yet: Hey, I'm really happy to have a chat with you, my name is Hedera and I originally came from Gehenna, like all demons do. It's kind of a counterworld to this one, which we know as 'Assiah'. Why did I settle in with you a few years ago? Oh well... Since I am a fairly young and somehow quite curious demon, the purpose of my stay here was to learn your languages first just to stalk you a little while... unfortunately I still am not able to understand everything you say.'</em><br/>
Then he stuck his tongue out and laughed again ...<br/>
'Geezer..' Eyvi thought, but kept it to herself. Then she thought about what he had just said.<br/>
"How you don't understand me one hundred percent? You're talking to me fluently! And what do you mean by 'young'? I heard demons are getting pretty ... old."<br/>
<em>'Ehr .. yes? The former is because we are not talking in your language.'</em> He winked at her.<br/>
<em>'And the age ... in human years that would be something around 90. Young, as I said. But I've only been in Assiah for about 5 years. And yes, that's how long I've been living in your apartment.' </em>A cheeky grin settled on his lips, which somehow looked slightly creepy on him.<br/>
Now completely ignoring the age issue, Eyvi asked incredulously: "How do I speak another language without realizing it?! What the hell!?"<br/>
<em>'Not hell. Gehenna.' </em>He was apparently already enjoying mocking her.<br/>
"Well, I don't mind." Eyvi murmured. She wanted more explanations. Wanted Hedera to tell her everything he knew.<br/>
<em>'I'll get to the language story right away. Since the term Mashou says nothing to you: This is the name of a wound, or the first wound caused by a demon, after which the affected person is able to see demons. Got that so far?'</em> He looked at the girl, waiting.<br/>
"Sure, I may be crazy but not stupid." Offended, she twisted her face.<br/>
<em>'Fine, was just a question.' </em>Hedera giggled once more. <em>'As you googled right, I'm a Hobgoblin and I'm an earth demon. In addition to us, there are seven other branches, each with its own king and - what the fewest know - their own language. Of course there is also one that is normally used in general and that every demon could recite during sleep. It is also known as 'Satan's language'.<br/>
Just a brief note: We are talking in the language of the earth demons right now.<br/>
Further in the text: These kings are again subordinate to their father: Satan himself.'</em><br/>
He watched Eyvis facial expressions carefully, but she would probably have been overwhelmed with her confused looks, so she had apparently decided to just stare at Hedera like a cow calf.<br/>
<em>'And our kings are not kings for nothing if you understand what I mean. They are not only the strongest demons in their class, they also have some tricks and skills that we can only dream of. Not to talk about Satan..'</em><br/>
Eyvi just nodded as if it was as clear as multipication tables.<br/>
<em>'So now for the interesting part that concerns you-'</em><br/>
"Wuhu ..?" Eyvi didn't really know if she should be afraid of what he would tell her now.<br/>
<em>'I was already happy when I realized that you can finally see me. Honestly, I already had the hope that you might become my companion in Assiah, since you already seem to be interested in demons ... And such a companion never hurts, because Assiah is teeming with exorcists ...' </em>There was the deep, familiar growl that Hedera usually produced with the words 'exorcists' or 'Ghoul'.<br/>
"So you wanted me to play bodyguard?" Now Eyvi frowned, because the idea of being a muscular bodybuilder seemed extremely strange to her.<br/>
<em>'Yeah almost. But I already knew that it would not work if we could not communicate properly. So I looked for help.'</em><br/>
"Help? My heart misgives me..."<br/>
<em>'Hm? How come? Everything went great.'</em><br/>
"Except for the fact that I probably suffered a trauma from the flipping." she said dryly. "Speaking of the 'flipper'. Was he what you called 'help'?"<br/>
<em>'Guessed correctly.'</em><br/>
"Alright, and who was that now?"<br/>
<em>'Who will earth demons probably contact if they have a problem? ...'</em><br/>
"I don't know, maybe they'll write a letter to Santa Claus? ..."<br/>
Hedera shook his head meaningfully; simply ignoring the senselessness in Eyvis' statement. He had already seen through the fact that she just wanted to distract from her ignorance with her stupid, but somtimes quite creative comments.<br/>
<em>'The Earth King.'</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You want to tell me it was your king who flipped my head?" Eyvi stared at Hedera, as she didn't seem to believe him. "... That behavior isn't very royal tho..."<br/>
Hedera was still grinning.<br/>
<em>'Showing good manners wasn't the point after all.'</em><br/>
"You don't say."<br/>
<em>'Better be glad that he was apparently on the ball and didn't refuse my request. That normally depends a lot on the mood he's in.'</em><br/>
"So gracious." Irony.<br/>
<em>'Anyway, I already mentioned what the kings are capable of. Among other things, this includes the ability to transfer skills that normally only belong to demons in their group. Some of those skills for a longer period, some only for a short time. Others may be permanently transfered, some only partially, some not at all, or at least not that well.'</em><br/>
"Ah okay. So in my case, this transferable skill was your language?" Eyvi finally thought she'd understand what had happened in the past few hours and why.<br/>
<em>'Well, al least I asked him only about</em> that <em>one.'</em><br/>
"What's that supposed to mean now?"<br/>
<em>'What I said: I asked him to make you understand me.'</em><br/>
Eyvi gritted her teeth. The first sentence clearly sounded like more, but it seemed like Hedera didn't want to tell her.<br/>
"So did I understand it correctly: I can only talk to earth demons, right?"<br/>
<em>'Exactly. That's because, as already mentioned, the kings can only pass on skills that relate to their element. So if you want to speak 'Satan's language', you have to go ask Satan himself.'</em><br/>
"Ehr ... no thanks." She frowned because she could imagine better things in life.<br/>
<em>'Any further questions?'</em> If he hadn't had that amused tone in his voice, Hedera would have sounded like a professor.<br/>
"Yes, one more. Can we go home now? ... I'm slowly freezing my ass off."<br/>
The demon agreed and they made their way back.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning Eyvi was lovingly woken by the words saying,<em> 'Forget it, you won't be sleeping all morning again.'</em> and a flying shoe.<br/>
"Hedera !!" Suddenly she was sitting upright in her bed. The demon apparently enjoyed his new hobby of throwing shoes of all kinds. The only thing missing was that he noted how the individual casuals flew and which caused the most headache.<br/>
<em>'Eyvi?' </em>he asked with a grin as if he didn't understand what she wanted. Of course he knew exactly.<br/>
When Eyvi dropped back onto the pillows, he jumped on the bed next to her and smacked his tongue in her face once more.<br/>
<em>'I can do the washing thing for you, but you have to do the rest yourself.'</em><br/>
When she looked at him slightly annoyed, Hedera winked at her.<br/>
"Yes, okay! I'm already up! ” Eyvi went to the kitchen and started making breakfast.</p><p><em>'We have no more cereals.'</em> he stated after sticking his tongue into the pack and then cucked it from the sideboard to the floor, as if it was the cereals' fault that he was hungry.<br/>
Eyvi watched the pack with tired eyes during the adventurous flight lesson and then bit into her nutella bun as soon as the box touched the floor and Eyvi was sure nothing spectacular was going to happen.<br/>
"Then we'll go shopping later ..." she grumbled with her mouth full.<br/>
<em>'Later? I'm hungry</em> right now<em>.'</em><br/>
"Find something else. It's not like you have dull granny teeth and can't bite anything ... "<br/>
Hedera then checked each of her cupboards, leaving open every wicket, until after ten minutes he finally found something he liked.</p><p>After Eyvi got ready she kept her promise, grabbed her shopping bag and strolled to the local supermarket with Hedera by her side. The demon had insisted on choosing his cereals himself.<br/>
"I just hope for you that no exorcist comes up with the idea of buying his breakfast here." Eyvi was serious about that. She didn't want to look for a new roommate now that she had made friends with the Hobgoblin in her apartment.<br/>
<em>'Exactly ... Or they have decided to infiltrate all supermarkets in order to be able to investigate undercover at the checkout. I think it is extremely likely. Mainly because they have nothing better to do. But I do have a bodyguard, what am I even worried about?' </em>Again he grinned as if he meant exactly the opposite of what he just had said.<br/>
"Oh, I don't know how I could come up with such nonsense." Eyvi had been able to do what Hedera was doing for a long time.<br/>
<em>'Better think about how it might look for outsiders if you talk to your shopping bag in a language that sounds totally strange to them. Especially .. if exorcists were really messing around here, it wouldn't be the best thing for you if they noticed your demonic babbling.  How I'd rate our dear exorcists, they only would draw wrong conclusions...'</em> he then said while entering the supermarket.<br/>
"How? … What conclusions?? And besides: Not a single soul can hear you talking either! Then why do they hear me?! That's discrimination.” Eyvi looked down at him in confusion.<br/>
<em>'Well ... I am a demon. I've just got the moves.'</em><br/>
"Oh what? 'I've just got the moves' is no explanation. I will not accept that."<br/>
<em>'When humans speak in a demon language; no matter which one; then other people around them can hear it as well. That's the way it is, how am I supposed to know why?'</em><br/>
"Because 'you got the moves'?" Now Eyvi was grinning at him. She was pretty confident she'd won.<br/>
<em>'Good counter. You got your first point, congrats.'</em></p><p>After this, Eyvi was satisfied and followed Hedera's advice not to talk loudly to him until they had left the supermarket. This turned out to be not so easy, especially not when Hedera brought down a shelf which had stood right next to Eyvi. Whistling softly, she turned on the heel and went the other way. How she would have loved to have a go at him at that moment.<br/>
Anything he screwed up around her would logically fall back on her. And she really didn't have that much money left to finance a complete shop interior.<br/>
Fortunately, at least they did not meet any undercover exorcists who pulled groceries over the scanner at the cash register and might could have stalked them.<br/>
Already on the way home, Eyvi suddenly stopped on the sidewalk, as outraged and slightly desperate screams could be heard coming from the opposite house.<br/>
<em>'Eyvi? What's up?'</em> Hedera had also stopped and turned to her after realizing that she was no longer following him.<br/>
For another minute, the girl listened to the loud scraps of conversation from the old farmhouse that Hedera couldn't quite understand. They sounded too vague in his ears. Then all of a sudden he listened. He could very well understand one of the three voices. Word by word.<br/>
Eyvi, who was able to understand everything that was said without exception, could tell from the voices that there were two completely different topics. This made her wonder. Especially since she only knew two of the voices. That meant something, after all, she had been living in the small town long enough to know every single resident...</p><p><em>'Seems like they have problems with the demon that lives on their property ...'</em> Hedera remarked after a while.<em> 'They are probably not able to see him, much less to understand what he is saying, that's why the two parties seem to talk past each other.' </em><br/>
"Do you know the demon who lives there?" Eyvi asked absent-mindedly without looking away from the house from which now a clattering and crackling could be heard.<br/>
She knew that it also had to be an earth demon, otherwise she couldn't have understood him.<br/>
<em>'Yes.'</em><br/>
"Can't you just talk to him then and maybe calm him down?"<br/>
Hedera stared at Eyvi as if she was out of her mind. However, she didn't even look at him when she spoke to him.<br/>
<em>'Apart from the fact that I don't even know what the dispute is about because I don't understand the two humans because of all the noise; why in Satan's name, do you think the fact that I know him means that I get along with him as well as he would listen to me?'</em><br/>
Eyvi shrugged. "If you don't want to do it, I'll have to."<br/>
With these words she crossed the street and trudged towards the house without paying attention to Hedera, who loudly tried his best to argue her out of her plan.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door of the house was wide open. Because of this, and because Eyvi suspected her knocking wouldn't be heard anyway, she entered without being asked. As she crept around the stairs towards the living room door, the voices grew louder.<br/>
<em>'Ungrateful pack of humans!' </em><br/>
A chair flew past her.<br/>
<em>'Have you forgotten who has ensured that this house and its vegetable garden from the proceeds of which you mostly live, are not going to simply collapse over the past years?!'</em><br/>
The accompanying table followed the chair.<br/>
<em>'Without me, this soil would be more than dead!!'</em></p><p>Eyvi stood by the door and was simply ignored. The angry demon was targeting mother and ten year old daughter, crouched in a corner of the room and who didn't even understand what was going on.<br/>
The child screamed loudly and the mother tried to calm her down to no avail.<br/>
Hedera appeared in between Eyvis legs.<br/>
<em>'To me, it sounds like he had a contract with the owners of the house a long time ago. Probably generations ago. Demons make no difference, even if the contract has been forgotten by people over the years...'</em><br/>
For a while the girl watched the action without a word, until...<br/>
"Hey!"<br/>
It was her, who had spoken to the stranger demon, but his eyes immediately wandered down to Hedera. A moment later one of the chairs flew directly towards them.<br/>
<em>'Get out of my way and don't get mixed up in my affairs, Hedera! I'm only demanding my rights!'</em><br/>
Eyvi was a little surprised at how easily she was able to dodge the flying chair, but she had more important things in mind than beeing amazed by her skills.<br/>
"Look a little higher up, it wasn't him who spoke to you." she added in a calm tone, whereupon the, with zeal and conviction glowing eyes of the chair juggler, began to examine Eyvi.<br/>
Apparently he didn't know how to deal with the situation a human girl just spoke to him. And then, in addition, in his native language.<br/>
Eyvi shamelessly took this opportunity. She was just glad that her inner peace didn't let her down this time.</p><p>Mother and child were still so scared that they didn't seem to notice what was happening in their living room.<br/>
"There's no point screaming at them." Eyvi pointed at her neighbors. "They don't understand a word of what you say. That seems to be the main problem, right? You are dissatisfied. Wanna tell me why?"<br/>
Somehow the demon, who was still confused, managed to ask: <em>'Why are you interested in that? Who are you anyway? An exorcist? Then why do you speak our language? Did Hedera drag you around?'</em><br/>
"Me? An exorcist? Please don't be silly. I currently share an appartement with Hedera. An exorcist would hardly do that. And no, I'm here of my own free will, Hedera even wanted to keep me from interfering.<br/>
However, I know the people here and know that you can talk to them sensibly if you have the chance to. That's why I wanted to give you this chance. So again: if you tell me what this is about, I will talk to them, I am pretty sure they will listen to me."</p><p>The demon growled slightly, but it wasn't very convincing. It sounded more like he was even more insecure than before and just wanted to cover it up with the growl.<br/>
<em>'Why should I trust you, you are human! You're on their side!'</em><br/>
"I am a human who shares an apartment with a demon! I even speak your language! I am not on either side, that's bullshit. I'm just trying to keep you from tearing the whole city apart! This contract you made with the family; it had advantages for you, didn't it? So it would only be a good for you if things would work out again."<br/>
Another indecisive growl could be heard. Then Hedera finally intervened as well.<br/>
<em>'Now don't queue up and tell her your problem already, it won't kill you! It can't get that much worse anyway, right? Or would you prefer them to call an exorcist to their house?'</em></p><p>Finally, the demon gave the long-awaited explanation. Basically it was about the fact that the grandparents of the family had died some time ago, but they were the ones who dealt with the small conditions that the demon had set up at the time, every day.<br/>
Her daughter had stamped these 'rituals' as old people beeing bonkers, and thought there was no point in continuing, because she wasn't a very superstitious person.<br/>
As soon as Eyvi recognized the problem, she indicated the angry demon should be patient and ran over to the people who were still crouching in the corner.<br/>
She spoke to her by name and placed a reassuring hand on the mother's shoulder.<br/>
This action was, as absurd as it may sound, even more difficult for Eyvi than having a conversation with a stranger demon. Probably due to the fact that, as just seen, she got pretty far with logic and oratory while talking to most demons. Unlike her fellow human beings, who were much more sensitive than herself.<br/>
She never had been particularly good at emotional situations like this, but for the fact that she didn't think it would suit her, she did quite well. </p><p>She managed to calm the woman down, so she could speak to her in a normal way, without her crying all the time. A real miracle in Eyvis eyes, as much as this happenings had upset her neighbor. A rather exaggerated reaction in her eyes, but at least she could empathize with the woman at some point.<br/>
Eyvi explained to her what the meaning of her parents' rituals had been, arguing that it was only small favors that were not viable for her and that she could do alongside her usual routine, without spending a lot of time on it. After all, it would only be fair to give something in return for the demon watching over the house.<br/>
As Eyvi expected, the young mother understood her point and nodded, still slightly sobbing. She no longer doubted the claim that a demon was to blame for all the tumult after she had seen all the flying chairs...<br/>
Then the little girl, who was now hanging on Eyvis leg, looked up at her with wide eyes and pleaded: "Please tell the demon that we are sorry Eyvi! I don't want him to be mad at us! Tell him we are glad he has been looking after us all these years! I'm sure he's a very nice demon!"<br/>
With a slight smile at the child's naivety, Eyvi briefly stroked her hair.<br/>
"Sure, I'm going to tell him. How about you go get him something to reconcile? I heard chocolate makes you happy and calms your mind."<br/>
She winked at the little one, who then jumped up and pulled her mother out of the room by the hand.<br/>
Eyvi also got up and when the woman passed by, she whispered an quite exhausted 'Thank you'.<br/>
As soon as the two left the room, she addressed the demon once more and explained what was happening and promised him that they would not forget the contract again.<br/>
She also suggested that if there was a problem at any time, he should let her know before causing half an Armageddon.</p><p>As Eyvi left, she watched the little girl gently put the chocolate on the table with a shy grin, then walking away a few yards, sitting down, and waiting for the demon to accept her offer of peace.<br/>
The scene strongly reminded Eyvi of how she used to sit in front of the fireplace in her old house in England for hours when she was a little child, waiting for Santa Clause.</p><p>Grinning with satisfaction, she left the neighbours house and without realizing it, the grin didn't vanish.<br/>
<em>'What are you grinning at for no reason? I'm not used to see that at all ... are you sick?'</em> Hedera asked, hopping next to her.<br/>
"No, I'm just happy."<br/>
<em>'And that's why you look like a honey cake horse on drugs? ... Sometimes I still don't understand humans ...'</em><br/>
"Don't worry, I think you're a geezer too." now Eyvi started laughing.<br/>
<em>'Well then we have the same opinion about each other.' </em>Hedera's tone of voice remained serious, but he couldn't avoid a fleeting grin flitting across the corners of his mouth.<br/>
Suddenly, however, Eyvis mood seemed to change and her expression became thoughtful.<br/>
<em>'... What is it now?'</em><br/>
"Nothing important ..." she tried to distract. The demon would only make fun of it anyway.<br/>
<em>'It may seem unimportant in general and to other people, but the thoughts seem to concern you, which makes them somehow important.'</em><br/>
"Why is it important what concerns me?" She looked down at him blankly, unable to imagine that he would really care.<br/>
<em>'A demon usually puts its own interests first. And what concerns you is what interests me. So tell me.'</em> Hedera persisted.<br/>
Eyvi had to smile. He could argue the whole thing down so dryly and logically as he wanted, he couldn't hide completely that he cared about her. If only very slightly ... She already could see through him well enough for that.<br/>
"I thought maybe I should talk to Minoru..."<br/>
Hedera rolled his eyes.<br/>
<em>'He is completely unappealing to me. If you ask me, you never need to talk to him ever again.'</em><br/>
"He's my best friend Hedera!"<br/>
The Hobgoblin then only let out his typical anti-exorcist growl.<br/>
"Yeah, I am also not thrilled that he wants to study exorcism ..."<br/>
<em>'Did I say it bothered me?' </em>surprised, she was putting words in his mouth he didn't even say, he looked at her.<br/>
"Indirectly yes." Eyvi grinned down at him, unable to hold back a gleeful giggle.<br/>
<em>'All right. Second point for you ... '</em>he grumbled slightly offended.</p>
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